Honestly
by Monica121
Summary: Duke found out that Viola was a girl. He didn't want to confront her about it... yet. Not until he figured out why she did it. He just didn't anticipate this little slip up. Honestly. AU. On Hiatus, currently being revised.
1. Chapter 1

This story is going to be themed against the song Honestly, by Cartel (not so much this chapter, but future ones). It won't contain the actual lyrics, because I don't want to be banned from Fanfiction, but it was inspired by it. So it might be a good idea to listen to the song as you read this. And there may be one or two lines found in the story. I know I really shouldn't be taking on ANOTHER chapter story right now, but I don't see this one as being too long. Oh, and also, a time note. This is the night of the carnival.

Summary: Duke found out that Viola was a girl. He didn't want to confront her about it--yet. Not until he figured out _why _she did it. Then he'd get her to tell him. AU.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything, sadly. I love this movie.

---

I was never more shocked than that day that I found out that the girl I had made out with, and the "boy" I had shared my room with for the past two weeks were the same person.

---

It was late. Or early. I don't know. Either way, it was around 3 or 4 in the morning. I was having an amazing dream about this girl I had met at a kissing booth (meaning Viola), and when Sebastian's alarm went off, first I was annoyed that it had ruined my good dream. Then I felt guilty, because I had been dreaming about his sister.

I pretended like I was still asleep. I didn't want to talk to him right now, because I knew if I did I would be completely embarrassed, knowing that I had just been dreaming about Viola. I wondered why the hell his alarm had gone off at such a ludicrous time, so I stayed as still as possible, and listened. Was he awake? I heard him rustling out of bed, and gathering some things. Quietly, he slipped out of the room.

I waited until the door had been shut for about 30 seconds, and I bolted out of bed. Where was he going? As his roommate, I felt some sort of responsibility for him. Or maybe I just wanted to know where he was going. So naturally, I followed him.

He was a little bit down the hall by that time. I shut the door ever so quietly, as to not let him know I was behind him. Where _was _he going? I bet he was going to meet a girl. Another one of his "conquests." Don't get me wrong. I liked my roommate a whole lot. But he didn't seem to have a whole lot of respect for women. That's not cool in my book. Though, he did seem to be getting better.

So there I was, expecting him to meet up with another gorgeous girl, when lo and behold, he slips into the bathroom.

Wait, what?

He set his alarm to some insane hour of the night to go to the _bathroom? _Who the hell schedules when they have to piss?

I knew there had to be more than that though, so as he slipped into the bathroom, I made up my mind to follow him. I counted to 120, figuring that would give him enough time to actually go in, and not notice me if I were to sneak in.

No, he definitely did not notice me. That's because he was too busy removing his _wig. _So now you might be thinking, so the guy wears a wig. Big deal.

Well, it is a big deal. Especially when along with the wig, he pulls off his eyebrows and sideburns. And his hair ends up being rather lengthy, like that of a girl's.

I watched as he turned around, and began removing some sort of wrap that was around his chest. I was really very confused at this point. What was going on? Slowly, Sebastian began to unbutton his shirt, and I realized something. I walk around the room half dressed all the time, and I've never seen Sebastian less the completely covered. Even during soccer, his socks were all the way pulled up, practically pulled up to his shorts.

Its not like I had a desire to see Sebastian less than fully clothed, but he was practically the only guy I knew who was always fully dressed. And he didn't take showers with the team. I hadn't really paid much attention to those details until just that moment.

As I had been lost in thought, I realized Sebastian's shirt was off. And it was all I could do not to die of shock.

That's when I realized. This guy... was a girl.

As she turned around again, looking through the bags she had brought for her shampoo, I got a look at her face, and I felt myself go pale. It was _Viola._ I knew I was about to go into convulsions.

Not wanting to be discovered, I carefully slipped out of the bathroom, and back towards our room, turning the idea over in my head.

What was going on?

Sebastian, my awkward and strange, though very nice roommate... was a girl. More specifically, his sister.

Thousands of questions ran through my head. Was there even a Sebastian at all? If there was, where was he? Why wasn't he _here_? Why was _Viola _here? Had it been Viola the whole time? Or had it been the real Sebastian for parts? Why would Viola pretend to be a boy?

But then, at the same time, I began to think about everything that had happened the last few weeks. I thought first of the tampon incident. Who _really _shoves tampons up their nose? Obviously, that's not why Viola had them. And then that girl voice she had done began to make sense. It was _her _voice. And then, the spider incident.

_"You're the guy!" _Kept running through my head. She had covered for herself by saying, "_Er, the... bigger... guy." _But still.

There had been so many clues. So many tips. I hadn't caught any of them. She's good. She played us all for fools.

I thought back to the kiss we had shared earlier in the day. And then to the rather awkward conversation we had had afterwards, when she was Sebastian. _Kiss the crap out of her. _What? What brother says that about his sister? I had briefly wondered about some of the things he... or rather, she, had said, but I wrote them off as him being strange. Now I knew better.

I felt myself kind of getting angry. She kissed me. She let me kiss her. Was this all some big joke to her? I wondered how she could just sit there, talking to me like nothing had changed after we made out. Here I was, thinking that meeting Viola could possibly be the thing I needed to finally get over Olivia, and then this happens.

I had made it back to my room, and lay down in my bed. What was I going to do now? Should I confront her? No, that would be too easy. I'd be letting her off too easy. And besides, I didn't have all the facts yet. I wanted to know the whole story before I did anything.

And that's when I decided. Why not just let her think I didn't know? I'll show her that I'm no fool.

---

So, what do you think? Feedback is SUPER appreciated. And I hate to do this... but I will not update before I get **5 reviews**. I know that sounds unfair, but see, I write HP fandom... I'm used to getting sometimes 20 reviews per chapter. I know that isn't possible for lesser written fandoms like this one, so I am going to aim low. If I get more than that, that would be AMAZING, but that is the minimum. I really want feedback on this.

This chapter was a little weird, because I am not a boy, so I don't know what the exact thought process would be. Also, some of you may be wondering why he doesn't just confront her... Well, he thinks she is taking advantage of him. That she thinks he's some dumb jock that wouldn't notice. So he wants to prove to her (and himself) that he really can be perceptive, and then catch her in the act.

So review!

Love,

Monica


	2. Chapter 2

Oh my gosh! I didn't expect such a huge response so early! Thank you so much guys. So as promised, here is your quick update! Still no Cartel in this one. But it's coming! Well, in a few chapters still. But still.

Disclaimer: I do not own she's the Man, no matter how much I would like to.

---

I had waited until Viola had returned to the room before I fell asleep. I decided to toy with her a little bit.

I let out a supposedly sleepy sigh, and turned over in the bed.

"Sebastian?" I asked, pretending to have just been woken up. "What are you doing?"

"I, uh, er..." She said. "Bathroom. Go back to sleep Duke."

As she talked, I, for the first time ever, took stock of her voice. Her tone changed around a lot, and it was obvious the voice was work.

I decided to play with her a little more. "Ehhhh, it's hot," I said in a fake-drowsy voice. I took off my shirt, and tossed it on the ground, and then pulled my comforter to about my waist. I was sure I heard a distinct gulp.

"Go to bed Duke."

"'Night Sebastian," I said lazily, and I turned over, pretending to fall back asleep. I let my breath get steady, so that she would think I was asleep. I wanted to see what she was going to do.

She didn't go to sleep for a few minutes. I could almost feel her sitting on her bed, awake. After a few minutes, she whispered (in her girl voice, mind you), "Goodnight Duke."

---

The next morning, she was up before me. She must have been used to missing that hour of sleep in the middle of the night, but I was not. I woke up 15 minutes after my alarm first went off.

I slowly got out of bed, and picked up my shirt. Looking around the room, I noticed that Viola was nowhere to be found. I sighed, and looked at the calendar on the wall. There was a week until the Cornwall game. Did I still want to help Viola with her soccer? I did still want to try and get a date with Olivia. And I did promise Sebastian. But that was before.

As I looked at the clock, I noticed that I only had about 45 minutes before my first class. I quickly got dressed, and then hurried to the bathroom to brush my teeth, wash my face, and shave.

As I went through my morning routine, I began thinking about how I was going to do this. I couldn't just stop helping Viola with soccer. I needed to give her a valid reason, and I couldn't do that without revealing that I know. Plus, I couldn't do that to the team. She really was getting good, probably just as good as and maybe even better than some of the boys in first string. If I stopped helping her, I would be depriving my team of a great player. As a captain, I couldn't do that, even if I wasn't too happy to continue to help her.

I realized also that if I was going to piece together why she was doing this, I'd have to talk to her still. I couldn't just ignore her. In fact, I'd probably have to talk to her _more _and ask more questions than I used to. Because I was going to figure this out. I had to.

---

Today I had English, so I made my way down to Ms. Ingram's room. Viola was in my class, but we had assigned seats, so we didn't sit together.

I got there about three minutes before the bell, so I took my seat and put my head down. I was so tired. Suddenly, I felt a presence next to me. I looked up to find Viola-as-Sebastian staring at me.

"Uh, listen Duke," she said in her strange made-up voice. "Sorry for waking you up last night. I didn't mean to."

I thought for a second. "No need to say sorry, man. We're _guys,"_ I said, emphasizing guys. "No need for apologies."

A slight blush crept into her face, and I couldn't help but wonder if she would be really cute when she blushed as a girl. I quickly dismissed the thought from my mind, and reprimanded myself.

"Thanks... bro," She said somewhat cautiously.

"No problem, _man." _

She looked like she was about to say something, but then the warning bell rang. Class was about to start.

"See you after class," she said, and walked over to her seat.

As I pretended I was paying attention to Ingram's speech on Thesis statements, I started to evaluate what had just happened. While emphasizing words like guy, bro, brother, man, and dude was amusing for me, it would also become excessive. And she would probably figure out that I knew.

So after class, I would just pretend like everything was normal. I had no idea that she wasn't Sebastian. And I would start to ask her some questions.

Class flew by as I did my planning. I walked over to Viola's desk. "Hey, I didn't have time to eat this morning. You want to go to the caf with me and grab something?"

"Sure. I have a while till my next class," Viola said.

So she stood up, and we walked down to the caf.

As we entered, I said, "So man, what's going on?" This time I did not emphasize man.

"Nothing really, just chillin'," Viola said.

I walked over to the line and said, "You want to snag a table man?" She nodded, and walked away. I walked through the line, grabbing a bran muffin and a carton of milk. What was I going to say to her? I quickly paid for my lunch, avoiding Principal Gold's eyes, hoping he wouldn't say anything to me. No such like. "Smile!" He said, "It's a BRAN new day!" he laughed at his own pun.

I cringed, and nodded.

I noticed Viola in the corner, twiddling her thumbs. I studied her face from across the room. Her features were soft. Much softer than a boy's. I shook my head, and walked over to the table.

"So what's up dude?" Viola asked me when I reached the table.

"Nothing man. I was just thinking..."

"'Bout what?" Man, she had guy-lingo down by now. I thought back to the first day we met. It was a little shaky then, but she was catching on.

"Well, you think I'd be good with your sister, right?"

Suddenly, she perked up. "Oh, you wanna talk about Viola?"

"Yeah dude, I hope that's okay," I said, wanting to see what she'd say.

"Yeah, that's fine man. More than okay. So what do you want to know?"

"I don't know, tell me about her." Maybe I could get her to say something that would help me put this thing together.

"Well, where do you want me to start?" Hmmm... What could possibly be relevant to her wanting to be Sebastian?

"I don't know... how does she like her school?"

I saw her try to subtly role her eyes. "She used to love it."

"Used to?"

"Well, you know she was with the douche Drayton," she started. Wait, this entire thing was about Drayton? She was pretending to be Sebastian because of that dick? "And I guess he just won't leave her alone. School hasn't started for her yet though."

I knew that that couldn't be it. There was more to the story than Drayton. And wait... that's right. Cornwall hadn't started yet. So Viola wasn't missing any school. What would happen when her school started though?

"What did she see in that guy anyway?" I asked, trying to dig a little bit more. There was more to this. I just knew there was.

"Soccer, probably." That answer didn't exactly catch me by surprise. Viola was good. She was on our team. I briefly wondered if Sebastian actually played soccer.

I was about to say something, when I noticed the clock. "Dude, we're late. We had a team training session that started five minutes ago."

I heard Viola curse under her breath, and I laughed. She really was getting good at this guy thing.

---

I don't want the story to go too fast, so I didn't have her reveal everything right now. I'm still kind of toying with how this is going to work out, though I do have a general idea of what I think I want to happen.

As always, suggestions and reviews are totally appreciated.

To my reviewers: **oreocloud029, AgentAngel, **_Meeeeee, Me, _**CrazyGirl47, and elfgirl30, **you are amazing. Seriously, all of you. It makes me so happy that people are reading and enjoying the story.

To **bcmono16, **who put this on her favorites, thanks so much :) That really means a lot to me.

To **Oreocloud** and A**gentAngel**, thanks for putting me on story alert, that also means a great deal to me.

Since response was so great last time, plus I already know that I'll have on automatic review (from my friend Mack, aka Meeeeee) **I'm bumping up the review requirements to…. 9**, I think is a good number. It's not a huge bump up. So 9 more people review, and bump me up to 15 reviews, and we'll be all set ;) So please review, and I will love you for life, and update faster!

Love,

Monica

* * *


	3. Chapter 3

Hey all! Thanks so much for being such good fans!

Some of the dialogue in this chapter is straight from the movie. However, because Duke knows that Sebastian is Viola, he isn't going to ask for her number (yet) and so Viola doesn't call him. So the scene is a little different than in the movie. Plus, the scene starts differently too, so that changes it a bit.

And also, sometimes I call Viola Sebastian, because its what Duke thinks of her as at the time. Sometimes he forgets that she is in fact a girl.

Disclaimer: I do not own it.

---

We hurried to the weight room, and managed to slide into the back unnoticed by Coach Dinklage. He never had to know that we had been late.

He was just giving the team a talk about proper weight training, though most of us already knew. I decided to have a little fun with Viola here. "Sebastian, lets go do the barbells."

For a second, Viola had that slight deer-in-headlights look, but she masked it quickly. As a guy, she had no reason to refuse. "Um, yeah, sure, lets go."

I smirked slightly. I wasn't going to do anything that would hurt her, but enough to make her nervous and slightly uncomfortable. Okay, its not like I want her to be all worried and everything just... she played me, you know? I trusted her completely. I spilled my guts to her about things I had never talked about with anyone. And she just let me sit there and do it. And on top of that, she didn't trust _me _enough to tell me what was going on.

I guess maybe that's why I was doing this too. I wanted to prove something to myself, but I also wanted her to trust me like I had trusted her. Enough so that she would tell me at least. And then I don't know what I'd do. I haven't decided yet.

Walking over to the stand, I grabbed about 200 pounds of weights. I stuck 100 on either side, and then looked at her. "So you want me to spot you?" She quickly bit her lip, a sign of her nervousness.

"Uh, why don't you go first?" she asked, stuttering slightly.

"Nah man, look, coach is over there. He looks like he's about to come over. Show him how hard you're working." She gulped hard, similarly to how she had yesterday night.

"Uh, yeah, uh, okay, I guess." She sighed, and laid down underneath the bar. Just before she did though, Dinklage comes up.

"Hastings!" He called.

"Y-yeah Coach?" Viola stuttured.

"You're first string for the Cornwall game," he said, holding up a number 13 jersey, with her name on the back.

"Really Coach?" She asked, looking very much like she wanted to give him a hug.

"No, I was joking you idiot."

I don't know exactly what happened, but just for a moment, I forgot how angry I was at her. I forgot she was a girl. I went and did the hand-hug, and it just kind of turned into a hug, as I felt her hand travel down my back a little bit. Still forgetting that it was Viola, I shuddered, and stepped away.

Though I was still angry, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't proud. This girl, who had all the natural talent in the world, together, she and I honed it. And she managed to make first string.

"That's great man!"

Viola grinned. Then I watched as her eyes kind of drifted back over the weights, obviously grateful that they had been forgotten. I decided to not ruin her moment by reminding her of them. Not that I would have had time though, because at that very moment, who should walk up to us but Olivia.

"Hey Duke," she said. "Sebastian."

"Olivia," Viola said.

I could feel my palms starting to get sweaty, and my hands beginning to shake. "O-Oliva."

"So, Duke, you getting ready to bench press? What are you lifting these days?"

"I-uh, um. T-two-twenty five."

"Wow, that's more than twice what I weigh. How many reps can you do with that?"

How many reps _could _I do with that? I couldn't remember. My mind when blank. Pick a number! I lost my balance, and slammed my face into the metal. Pick a number! "T-twenty."

Dammit, I can do more than twenty! Stupid, you should have thought about it!

"Wow, so how many reps could you do with me?" She asked giving me a seductive look.

Um... If i can do twenty... and she weighs... um... what? One, two, three...

"Forty Duke. That's forty," Sebastian said, sounding annoyed. I had honestly forgotten he was there. Er... _she_ was there.

Olivia shot Sebastian a look, and then started approaching me slowly. Her hand was on my chest. There was actual body-to-body touching! Her hand was on my chest!

"Duke, didn't we have that thing we had to go do?" Sebastian asked through what sounded like clenched teeth.

"I-uh, yeah, uh, what? Thing? We have no thing. We're thingless. I have time Olivia," I said incoherently.

Sebastian let out a frustrated sigh, and rolled his eyes, though I didn't pay much attention.

"Great!" Olivia said, shooting another look at Sebastian. "So you want to do something tonight?"

"Yeah! Like I, I said. Like I said. I'm thingless."

"Great!" She said again quickly. "It's a date. Cesario's at 8 o'clock."

"O-okay." She smiled and walked away, as I followed her with my eyes. I mourned the loss of her hands touching me, but I was still elated that we had a date tonight. "YEAH! _You _did it!" I yelled at Sebastian. Again, I forgot about Viola, or more specifically Viola as Sebastian, and just was grateful to him. I don't know how he did it, but he did. She asked me out. I through my arms in the air, and I know I must have looked like a fool, but I started dancing. "I'm going out with Olivia," I sang. "I'm going out with Olivia!" I grabbed the drawstrings of Sebastians sweatshirt, and began tying them around his face. However, the second I had actually touched his face, my hand snapped back, realizing again that it was Viola. There had almost been a tiny electric spark when our skin had met. Not like static or anything... It was something strange.

I shrugged it off and grinned. "Good job."

She frowned, and said, "I'll be right back."

I shrugged again, and briefly wondered where she was going off to, but then turned decided to just ditch the weight room. I was too excited to lift. I was going out with Olivia.

---

PLEASE READ THE ENTIRE AUTHORS NOTE! IT HAS SOME IMPORTANT UPDATE INFORMATION!

Thanks to my reviewers **Peachie1st,** **princesscatie21**, Jan,** xAxsxhxlxexyx**, **Agent Angel,** **oreoclouds029**, **gordongirl18**, **whatahottie**, and **Greenpeace420.**

Thanks to **Greenpeace420 **for putting this on her favorites, and to EVERYONE who put this on alerts. Normally I'd type you out, but I had drivers training today, plus I have to do some AP studying, so I don't really have time.

Speaking of which, let me give you guys an update on this: I have drivers training every day till the 15 for 2 hours after school every day. I'll try to have nice regular updates, but finals are also coming up so I have to balance drivers training AND studying for finals (which also start the 15th). Over holiday break I'll probably get more done though, so don't fret. Plus I like to take breaks ;)

So keep reviewing! Since you guys got me 9 in just a few days this time…. How about we not try for **15**? I'm **not** going to be like I ABSOLUTELY WILL NOT UPDATE TILL I GET 15! But it's nice to see if we can try, you know? Lol. I'm also making it a little higher because I'm starting to get closer to the chapters I haven't already written (I'm just starting to work on 5 as I write this) so I'm trying to give myself a little bit more time to write them, while still posting pretty regularly.

Love,

Monica


	4. Chapter 4

Okay, warning you now... This one doesn't have that much Viola/Duke interaction. I wanted this one to be more about how Duke's intentions towards Olivia were completely pure, and just exactly what was going on in his head at Cesario's. So not much action yet. But there will be soon. Sorry guys, if this one bores you to death :(

The dialogue is straight from the movie (except for a couple of lines) but Duke's thoughts I made up.

Disclaimer: I don't own She's the Man.

---

I didn't see Sebastian/Viola for the rest of the day before my date with Olivia. I instead really took some time getting ready. I picked out a shirt carefully, instead of just throwing something on like I normal do. This was different. This was Olivia.

I carefully pulled out a tan-ish white dress shirt, and inspected it. It wasn't wrinkled, or stained. It would be perfect. I put on my favorite watch, and checked the time. I had to be there in a few minutes.

I got onto my bike, and pulled up at Cesario's at about 7:54. I walked in and scanned the room. Olivia wasn't there yet. "Pete, can I have the booth?" I asked the host, a sophemore named Petey. Since I came here pretty often, I had a pretty regular booth, and Petey was always pretty good about securing it for me.

"It's all yours man," Petey said.

"Thanks bro," I said, and walked over to the table. I sat down and waited, checking my watch every few moments. _7:56._ Still no Olivia. Thats okay, it was still technically early. _7:59_. One minute to show time. _8:03_. It was still alright, she probably was just taking long to get ready. _8:07. _Maybe she was just arriving fashionably late? _8:12. _Did I get stood up? Wait a second... was that her that just walked in?

She scanned the room, appearing slightly uninterested. She spotted me, and I waved. She gave me a curt nod, as she began to walk over to the table. The nod had been very curt. Very different than the one she had given Viola that day in Chemistry. I pushed the thought out of my mind, and stood to greet her.

"Hey," I said. "H-hi. Take a seat. Um, yeah. You can pick one or something if you want. I mean, you don't have to sit n-next to me if you don't w-want too. But, I mean, you can if you wants. Its not like I don't want you to sit by me or..."

Olivia cut me off. "I hope you don't mind but I asked Sebastian to join us. He's bringing a date."

I was too entranced with Olivia to wonder why or even how Sebastian/Viola had gotten a date. "Umhng, yeah."

Olivia sat down next to me, obviously leaving room for Sebastian and his date. I wanted to tell her she looked nice, or something, but I couldn't really manage the words. It came out as, "You... the dress... um... nice."

She just kind of stared at me. "Um, thanks I guess?"

I tried to smile. I grabbed my spoon and began fiddling with it. It was a nervous habit of mine. I had gotten all the way up to stage four (spoon as comb) when I managed to work up the courage to say something. What had Sebastian said? Cheese? And that would work? He would know, right? I checked my watch again. When was he going to get here? "So, do you like... cheese?" I asked nervously, as I noticed she had been carefully examining her finger nails. She gave me a look that I coudn't quite decipher. I wish I spoke girl.

Suddenly, thank the Lord, Sebastian... I mean, Viola showed up. "Hey you two," he said. "Hey!" I exclaimed jumping up. "You're here! ...With Eunice."

Eunice smiled excitedly and waved. Wait a second. Viola was here with Eunice? Had I not been bombing on my date with Olivia, I would have taken a moment to laugh and wonder about the irony of the situation. But I was, so I didn't.

"Mind if we join?" She asked.

"Oh, no!" I said. "No, no, no, no, no!"

I noticed Olivia was saying pretty much the same thing. They sat down, and Olivia and I simotaneously called for the waiter. Was that perhaps a sign? Did we think a like, maybe? Then WHY COULDN'T I TALK TO HER!? "Help me," I mouthed to Sebastian.

I noticed Eunice giving Sebastian... I mean, _Viola, _some creepy stares. If only she knew... I felt bad for Viola, having to be here with Eunice. Something told me that this wasn't exactly an elective thing. But then again... it was her decision to dress up as a girl, and it was her decision, ultimatly to be here now. I figured I'd talk to her about it later. I mean, um, I'd talk to him. As in Sebastian. As in Viola-as-Sebastian. Or whatever.

Suddenly... Olivia got all chipper, and different. We had barely managed to say two words to each other all night, and suddenly her hand was around my arm. Not that I minded. Because there was actually body-to-body touching! Her hand was on my arm!

"So, I was just telling Duke how great it is to finally meet a real man at this school," She said. Wait... wait a second? She was?

"Uh, y-you were?"

"Well, I was just about to," She said smiling across the table. She had been going to say that I was a real man! Maybe that meant she'd go out with me again! "Isn't it great to have a real man around Eunice?" She said to Eunice.

Again, had I not been in my current situation, I would have found it ironic because Viola is in fact a girl. But again, I was, so I didn't. Because, lets face it. There was actual body-to-body touching. My mind was therefore completely blank.

"Oh yes," she said, smiling at Duke in that creepy way that only Eunice can.

"A real man is hard to find," Olivia said, grabbing around my neck this time. I shivered slightly. This time her hand was actually touching my SKIN.

"So very, _difficult,"_ Eunice said crawling her fingers up his... I mean, her, arm.

But I didn't have time to think about that, because Olivia just began kissing my ear. Oh my god, there was actual LIP to skin touching now. I felt myself shivering. Did this mean she actually liked me? I leaned in and kissed her ear, and the nape of her next, trying to get her lips, but for some reason she wouldn't let me.

My mind was completely lost at this point, but I somehow still managed to hear a, "Eunice! Hands!"

There is movement on the other side of the table, and I guess Sebastian had stood up. Olivia for some reason noticed, and pulled away. I mourned the loss grately. She was an amazing kisser. I continued to kiss her, hoping she'd get back into it. But instead, she stood up as well.

I heard an, "_Okay_," and I slipped forward in the booth. "Well, this has been lovely... Let's do it again sometime. Soon."

"What?" I asked, thinking outloud. What was going on. I had just had the second... I mean, the _first _most amazing kiss of my life, and suddenly she was leaving. It was comparable to when Drayton had interupted--Wait! No, it wasn't the same at all. Viola had been at a kissing booth, and that was all. This was real. This had been a date, and now Olivia is suddenly all jumpy. What was going on? She waved bye, and walked out.

I was left in a stunned stupor, still high off of our kiss. I noticed that Eunice had been ditched too.

"So, uh... Do you... like cheese?" I asked Eunice, trying to over come this unbearably awkward situation, and forget that Olivia had just walked out on me.

"More than almost any other animal by-product," Eunice said in that creepy tone of hers.

My eyes widened, and I raised my hand, signaling the waiter. "Yeah, uh, check please!"

The waiter came over and handed me the check, while Eunice rested her face on her hands and batted her eyelashes at me.

I quickly looked at the bill. It was just for the drinks, considering Olivia had skipped out before we could even order. I wonder what had happened.

I laid a ten down on the table, not bothering to wait for change. "Uh, see you in science Eunice," I said awkwardly.

"Bye partner!" I heard her call, as I quickly rushed out of the restaurant.

So maybe the date wasn't everything I had dreamed about. But a guy has to start somewhere, right?

---

Sorry that this one is kind of short. Hopefully the next chapter will make up for it.

I got a review from Darla, saying it shouldn't be about the reviews. I know that. I do write for me. I write because I love it. But at the same time, its disheartening to not have reviews. If I begin to get kind of ridiculous reviews (you know, the meaningless two-ish word ones) then I'll reevaluate what I'm doing. Writing is for me, but its also nice to get feedback, and reviews are a main way of doing that.

Plus, they help me figure out when I need to update. Otherwise, I don't remember to update or not. The limit keeps me on my toes.

Like I said... the limit is merely a guideline :) I'm not going to overuse, or abuse it.

So if I get around **10 **I'll update again. Like I said before, we're coming up now, onto the chapters I hadn't already pre-written, and finals are coming up. So I may not update for a few more days...

So keep your eyes peeled. I'll be PMing everyone who left a signed in review soon!

Love,

Monica


	5. Chapter 5

This is when things FINALLY start going different from the movie. Fantastical!

Thanks so much for all the reviews I received. Read the end note for more info!

Disclaimer: I didn't own it then, and I don't own it now.

---

I didn't understand it. Why would Olivia invite me out, only to leave after a few minutes?

Viola's deception had really made me start to question the motives of all girls. What were the really capable of? My thoughts were on Olivia, and her strange behavior today on our "date." How she had acted when it was just me, and how she acted when Sebastian showed up. She couldn't... she wouldn't... No, I wouldn't think about it. If I thought that, it was more likely to be the truth. So I pushed the thoughts out of my mind.

I was annoyed with how the date had gone. I wondered why she ended it so abruptly. So to clear my head, I decided to take my bike around campus for a few minutes. Besides, I didn't really feel like going back to the dorm. Viola would be there. I didn't exactly feel like talking to her.

I seriously thought about storming into the room, and confronting her. But I didn't.

I managed to keep my head on straight, and I tried to think about this rationally. Viola was on a date with Eunice. That was weird in itself. But then, thinking about it, she didn't seem to have really been there on her own accord. So why was she there then?

And also, since she showed up in the first place, the nice thing to do would have been to stick around and coach me through the whole thing, but what does she do? She gets up and leaves not even ten minutes in! And then Olivia followed her!

I checked the information gauges on my bike again, and I sighed. My fuel was getting low, and I didn't feel like heading to the gas station, so I had no choice but to head back to the dorm. Damn.

---

I drove at a moderate pace, not really looking forward to getting back to the dorm. I pulled into a parking spot and I sighed again. Carefully removing my helmet, I tucked it under my arm, and fiddled with something in my hands for a moment, so I could avoid the dorm as long as possible.

Finally, I entered the building. Taking my time in the hallways, I tried to walk at the slowest pace possible. I didn't really want to get to the dorm too soon. I had no clue how the conversation was going to go back at the dorm. I thought that if I walked slower, I could maybe completely avoid any conversation. Too bad it wouldn't have done any good.

"Duke!" I heard from behind me. I wanted to groan, but I didn't. Malcolm.

"What do you want Festes?"

"You're breaking curfew!"

I looked at my watch. It was 10:02.

"We have to be _on campus_ by one, according to curfew, you idiot."

Malcolm glared at me. "Well you shouldn't be wandering the hallways."

"Do I look like I'm wondering the hallways?" I said sarcastically.

"Why, yes, it does. You... Well, you just look like you are, okay! I could get you a detention for that! Reckless, aimless wandering!"

"Okay Malcolm. And this wouldn't have anything to do with the fact that I took Olivia out tonight, right?"

Malcolm got very red in the face at that one. I took it as an opportunity to get out of there. "Later Festes," I called over my shoulder, laughing at my victory.

Weighing my options, I decided I would definitely rather deal with Viola than Malcolm any day, so I hurried down the hall towards our room. Besides, I reasoned, maybe I could get Viola to spill some information.

I shoved my hand in my pocket as I approached the door, and I pulled out my key. As I stuck it in the lock, I paused. What would I say? Should I confront her about the date? Ask her why she ditched? I decided to play it by ear. As I turned the lock, I didn't even notice that I was holding my breath.

I slowly stepped into the room, and surveyed it. Viola was laying in her bed, on her side facing my bed. She appeared to be sleeping. I berated myself mentally, because I had worried so much for nothing. Or so I thought.

Grabbing a magazine off my desk, I prepared to settle in for a night of catching up on my soccer reading, and I laid down on my bed.

That's when she spoke. "How'd the rest of the date go?" She asked, in her uneven tone.

I jumped slightly, having not been expecting her to speak. I looked over to her. Her eyes were still closed.

"Oh, fantastic," I said sarcastically. "Best 30 seconds of my life."

She slowly opened just one eye. "What do you mean?"

"Olivia ditched about 30 seconds after you did," I answered, a little bit more coldly than I meant to.

She was completely awake now, and she quickly sat up. "What, why?"

"No clue," I said quietly.

"I'm sorry man," she said, sounding not all that sorry to me.

Ignoring that, I proceeded. "Why'd you ditch, man?" I paused, briefly wondering whether or not I should voice my suspicions. Once I said them out loud, after all, they would become all too real. "I think she left... well, I think she left because you did."

"What?!" Viola yelled, girl voice and all.

"You heard me," I said defensively, not really wanting to repeat the last thing that had come out of my mouth.

"Why would she leave when I left?"

"For the same reason she would only talk to me once you got there."

"What are you talking about dude?" She asked. I had to give her credit. Though she seemed flustered, she managed to stay in character.

"Forget about it. I don't really feel like talking about it right now." I said, kind of annoyed.

"...Okay, I guess," Viola said quietly. She looked around the room awkwardly for a second. I kind of felt bad for her, because she didn't know how to break the ice.

So I did it for her. "So, what were we talking about earlier? Before the weight room?"

"Oh! About Viola!"

I inwardly smirked. As a girl, I knew she couldn't resist talking about herself. I didn't mind, she was interesting and all. I just found it amusing. I guess after having to pretend to be Sebastian for so long, she wanted to talk about something she knew. I couldn't hold her at fault for that.

"Yeah, Viola. So... tell me about her."

"Well, uh, I don't know that's a pretty broad subject. What do you want to know about her?"

"I don't know... Tell me about what she likes to do in her free time, I guess?"

"Hmm," Viola said. "Well, she loves to play soccer. I think I told you that. And she loves hanging out with her friends. She listens to a lot of music."

Wanting to keep the conversation going I said, "Oh, what kind?"

"Stuff Sebas-I mean. Stuff that I get her into mostly. She pretty much will listen to anything though."

I nodded. "She sounds pretty cool."

"Yeah, I told you. She has a good personality."

_And she's pretty too, _I thought. Woah, woah, woah, woah. I can't think about her like that. Especially when she's sitting next to me. I had something to prove. But the thought kept nagging my mind. Suddenly, something clicked in my head. There could possibly be a way to get to Olivia, and figure out Viola at the same time...

Oh, this was going to be interesting.

---

Okay, so there is chapter 5. Finally some plot points. I don't know... with how things are going, I am guessing this will probably be about... 12 chapters, give or take a few.

Like I've said before, we are now getting into the stuff I have not written yet. Before I was just posting chapters when I got a certain number of reviews. Now I'm going to post chapters as I complete them. That was, therefore, the point of the review requirements... So that I wouldn't forget to post the chapters!

Thank you so much to everyone who reviewed: Im-On-Holidayz!!, viduke101, **Arica, Princess of Rivendell**, **peachie1st**, oasissalamun, **GreenPeace420,** **Elly M**, **VIX3N**, **izzabella, ****A9L9O8N7E**, **highsmusicalrox**, Cali, and Caitlin!

For everyone who left a signed, logged in review, I tried to PM you... If you got either two PMs, or not one at all, I really apologize... Finals are this week and my brain has been a little scattered. If you didn't receive one, and you WANT one, please let me know in a review. Then I reply to any and all reviews you have left me for this story :)

And finally! Finals. No pun intended. Its Finals week. I know that there was a little bit of a wait for this chapter. I'm really sorry about that. But this is probably how its going to be from now on, unless I actually get the chapters written like I intend to beforehand.

Oh, wait, I lied, one more thing. Thanks to **dancer29**, **gordongirl18** and **izzabella** for adding this to their favorites, along with the other two who I have already thanked! I'd also like to thank everyone who has this on story alert, but, since there has been a HUGE jump since last time (it went from like 13 to 24 people), I don't have time/space to type out everyone, but THANK YOU!

So hopefully I will get a new chapter up before finals end on Thursday, but if not, be on the look out for an update around then!

Thanks!!!

Love,

Monica


	6. Chapter 6

Hey everyone! Thanks for all of your reviews. It seems I had a couple of you worried that he was going to do something really bad. He won't :)

Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

---

I went over the idea in my head before saying anything. I wanted it to work, but I also didn't want to hurt anyone. I wasn't sure how this would work out. But it was worth a shot, right?

If I could take Viola out to lunch or something, I could get Viola to talk a little bit more about herself, and I could figure out why she was doing it. Plus, if Olivia found out about it, she might get a little bit jealous. I was slightly torn over this plan. Was it ethical? I couldn't be sure. But then again, Viola was lying more than I was, by at least ten times. And it wasn't like I would be leading her on... I doubted that Viola felt that way about me, and besides, I'd ask her just as friends, so she wouldn't get the wrong idea anyway. Yes, this could work.

So I looked at Sebastian/Viola and said, "Hey, do you think your sister is busy tomorrow?"

She looked surprised. "Viola? No! I mean... probably not. It's not like she's some loser who sits at home doing nothing. But I don't know. I don't think she has said anything. You know what? You should call her."

I gave her a half smile, trying to figure out exactly what must be going on through her head. "Yeah, that might be the best idea. Can you give me her number then?"

"Yeah, sure man," She said smiling. Not a minute later, the number was written on a piece of paper for me. "You know, I think I'll give you a little privacy," she said, getting up. "Um... let me know how it goes."

I smiled at her and said, "Yeah, sure man."

I waited until she had shut the door, because I didn't want the phone to ring, and then everything come out. It would be strange hearing the girl version of herself of the receiving end. Bracing myself, I began to dial the number into my cell phone.

One ring. Two rings. Three rings. "Hello?"

I didn't know whether to smile or shudder; hearing her like that was pleasant, but unbelievably strange. It was like I didn't know how to think of her. Should I just forget everything that she was as Sebastian, at that moment? I shook my head, and decided to just go with it. "Hey, Viola?"

"Speaking." It was like I could hear the smile in her voice, in a weird way. I don't know, I guess we had spent too much time together.

"Oh, Viola, hey," I said. "It's Duke, from the carnival," I said, trying to play it off like I was nervous, and that I didn't know she knew who it was. It was funny. Normally, I'd never be able to do this. I'd sound like a complete reject. But I guess because I had been so comfortable with her as Sebastian, it just became natural to be comfortable with her... even as Viola. If that made any sense at all.

"Oh? Sebastian's roommate, Duke?" She said, obviously feigning surprise.

"Uh, yeah," I said, laughing to myself. She was really playing this off well. If I didn't know any better, I would have said she had no idea that it was me on the phone to begin with.

"Oh, how can I help you?"

Now came the hard part. "Well... I hope you don't mind me asking... It's just that from everything your brother has told me, it sounds like we have a lot in common. I was wondering if you wanted to maybe get together for lunch as, you know, friends. At Cesario's. Maybe like tomorrow or something?"

"Hmmm, lunch tomorrow?" She said. "Let's see... Oh. You know what? I was actually supposed to hang out with my friend Yvonne, but her mom is making her go... um, to the doctor. So I'm actually open."

"Okay, so Cesario's at 12:30 then? I have practice in the afternoon, so it kind of have to be early."

"Yeah, see you then, I guess."

"Yeah, see you," I said, and then I hung up. I wondered what must have been going on in her head at that moment. But, like everything else about her, it was pretty much a mystery.

I sighed, and rested my head against the wall. Why was she pretending to be Sebastian. And the worst part of the entire thing was... why did I have this pit in my stomach?

---

She was back in the room a few minutes later. I didn't exactly know how to act, so I just went back to pretending everything was normal.

"Man, d'you call her?" he said.

"Uh, yeah, I did," I said. Under normal circumstances, I wouldn't talk about a date with the date's brother. Not that it was a date. I had told her, as friends. Anyway. So I figured I shouldn't talk about it with her, because she thought that I thought she was Sebastian.

"...And?" He asked. He wasn't impatient, I guess, because he already knew the entire thing.

"...And what?"

"Well, what did she say?" he asked.

"I don't know, it's not that big of a deal... I asked her to lunch as friends. She said yeah."

"Oh? As friends?" He asked. This seemed to surprise her slightly.

"Yeah, as friends."

She looked slightly put off for a second, and then more contemplative then anything. She seemed like she was debating with herself whether or not to say anything. It's funny, you know? Some things I've been realizing. I'm pretty good at reading guys. Like, not fantastic, but decent. Then when it comes to reading girls, I'm terrible. But I guess we'll see how it goes with Viola tomorrow.

Finally, she spoke. "Well... why?"

"Man, I don't know. Can we not talk about this? It's your sister." He gave me a look, and so I said, "I don't know man. I don't know her that well, and you know how things are with Olivia. Your sister sounds like she'd be cool to chill with." There. That was pretty honest. She did seem cool, so that wasn't a lie. And things were difficult with Olivia. It was honest. Maybe not completely, totally honest, but there was enough truth in there so that I shouldn't feel too guilty. Right?

She looked satisfied, so I gave a relieved sigh. I don't think she noticed it. "What about you? What are you doing tomorrow?"

Surprise was evident on his face. "Me? Oh... well, some of my boys from Cornwall buzzed me. We're gonna go chill in the morning. Which reminds me, I'll probably be leaving around... 9-ish. So if I don't see you in the morning, have fun," he said. I laughed to myself, because it was actually a good excuse. Though I don't think I know any guy who got up at nine in the morning to hang out.

"Yeah, thanks, you too," I yawned, and looked at the clock by my bed. It was 11:15. I was still kind of tired from the night before. Even though I had ditched work-outs today, I was still exhausted. "Alright man, I'm gonna go to sleep. See ya tomorrow."

"Yeah, you too. Night."

After the lights had been turned out, I shoved my headphones in my ears. I didn't really feel like having the 3 a.m. alarm wake me up.

---

So after a slight finals/holiday delay, here you go! Sorry this wasn't up sooner. At least it wasn't really a cliff hanger :) I was out of town with no internet. BUT! The good news about that is... I had some extra writing time on my hands, and I was able to write a little bit of the upcoming chapters. So hopefully that will makes updates regular again.

Okay, as for review response... Because I'm not home, I really can't put them in, because I don't have records of what the reviews said. So from now on, please let me know if you'd like a response, and I will definitely get back to you.

Thanks to the wonderful people who put this on story alert, and to the many people who have added it to their favorites. You all really make my day, doing that stuff :)

So... I'll be updating soon, and I hope everyone had fantastic holidays!

Love,  
Monica


	7. Chapter 7

I know, I know, it took me forever to update! I'm sorry, just second semester has been so hard, and I've been really stressed. I've been trying to find time to write, but its pretty difficult. I hope that it won't happen again. Again, I'm -so- sorry. I promise that I can not, and will not, abandon this story.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

---

I woke up to Sebastian yelling, "See you at practice. Have fun." And then the dorm slammed.

I yawned, and felt around my bed for a second for my iPod in my bed, and then I shoved the headphones back in my ears. Sum 41. I blasted _Fat Lip _as loud as it would go to wake me up. It was a part of my daily routine; I woke up with music.

But anyway. I got up, and felt some jitters in my stomach. Today was the day I would hopefully get some answers.

I yawned again, and stood up to stretch. Checking the clock, I saw it was 9:30. I had three hours to kill. Grabbing my tennis shoes, and a soccer ball, I decided I'd go kick the ball around for an hour. Hopefully I'd be able to get rid of some of my nerves.

---

I walked back into my room, with only enough time to shower and dress before I had to be at Cesario's. I rushed to the bathroom, showered, and then hurried back to my room. I took as much precision in picking my outfit now as I had with Olivia. I was just glad that no one was around to see me--that would have been so embarassing, for them to see Duke Orsino taking forever on his wardrobe.

I pulled out a dark green long sleeved button up, and a white wife beater. I put them on, leaving the last few buttons to the top unbuttoned, so the wife beater showed underneath.

I looked at the clock, and noticed I had to be at the restaurant in less than ten minutes. Muttering _"Shit," _under my breath, I quickly grabbed the keys to my motorcycle and was on my way.

---

As I entered Cesario's, I looked around, wondering if she'd be there yet. I checked my watch, and smiled when I realized I had made pretty good time. It was 12:28. I saw Pete, and he nodded, signaling that my normal table was in fact open.

I grinned at him, and walked over to the table. Two minutes later, I know because I checked my watch when she came, Viola entered. It was shocking, seeing her as Viola. Knowing she was Viola.

My breath caught a bit when I realized she looked _gorgeous. _

She saw me, and I waved. Grinning, she approached the table. "Hey Duke," she smiled, and sat down across from me.

I couldn't find my voice for a second. "I---Hi." I mentally smacked myself, but I smiled back. "You look... really nice." This was true. She was wearing a light green v-neck top with a pair of nice jeans, and her hair was down.

"You look really nice too," she smiled some more as she rested her chin on her hand and looked at me.

I thought for a moment, and then found my voice. "I hope it was... I hope it was okay, me asking you to come here today. Sebastian's told me a lot about you. I think we could be really great friends." I wanted to slam my head against the table. Why had I said friends?

Was I imagining that, or did she look disappointed, if only for a second? If she was, she quickly masked it and said, "Of course it's okay. I've heard a lot about you too."

I smiled slightly, knowing that anything she'd heard, she'd actually already heard from _me. _But I played it off well, I think. "Oh really?" I asked. "All good things, I hope?"

She thought for a moment, and then said, "Hmm... I don't know..." My heart stopped for a moment, and then she started laughing. "Of course, silly. All good things."

I let out a sigh of relief, and laughed with her. "Geez, you scared me."

She smiled and said, "Sorry."

"So what kinds of things have you heard about me?" I asked, curious to see how she felt about the things she had learned about me.

She bit her lip, and I wondered if that was nervousness she was showing. "Oh, you know, just things Sebastian has told me." I wondered if she actually was nervous, and if so, why. But if she was, I decided to take the subject off of me. After all, I had set this up so I could learn about her.

"So you and your brother are close?" I asked.

She brightened considerably, and I couldn't help but grin as her eyes seem to shine with happiness and confidence. "Yeah, we're really close," she said smiling. "We are twins, after all."

I smiled at her (her smile was quite contagious), and said, "Well, Viola, you may be twins, but are you very similar?" I was interested in hearing this, because it might provide some information as to why she was doing what she was doing.

"Oh, not at all," she smiled. "I'm the soccer player, and Sebastian is the musici--" she stopped herself. "I mean... we both play soccer. That's pretty much our only similarity." Did her little slip up mean that Sebastian actually didn't play soccer? Than what would happen to the team when he came to the school, and Viola left. That is... if he was even going to come back to the school! Who was taking Viola's place right now? Was Sebastian dressed up as her?

There was a whole new wave of questions forming in my head, and I didn't know what to say first. Perhaps I should try to get to know more about Viola, so I could understand her motives?

"So, tell me about... about yourself." I wondered why I was stumbling slightly in my words. After all, it was only Viola. I talked to her every day. We shared a room. Why was it so hard for me to talk to her as a girl?

She thought for a moment, and said, "Oh, well, I don't know... I'm just... a normal girl I suppose." She bit her lip. "I like to play soccer, and I don't really want to be a debutante." She laughed at that, and I couldn't help but break a grin.

---

Sorry to cut it short here, but I really wanted to get this chapter up. I feel absolutely terrible for not updating for so long. It was lack of motivation, and lack of time. But I am hoping I can start with more regular updates from now on.

I would like to thank all of my wonderful fans, and hope that you all continue reading, even though it took me so long to get this chapter up. I am -really- hoping to get the next chapter up soon.

Thanks to -all- of my readers and reviewers. You've made this one of my most successful stories, and I'm really, really honored.

Leave some feedback, if you'd like, I'd love to hear your thoughts!

Love,

Monica


	8. VERY IMPORTANT AUTHORS NOTE

Hey guys,

So, three years later, and this story is still getting a response. Shockingly. I'm sorry that it's been so... non-existent. Fanfiction stopped being a part of my life. I'm 18 years old now, and about to start my second year of college. I've changed as a person—I've fallen in love, gotten my heart broken, experienced things that I never thought I would. Three years makes a huge difference.

As does having a different hard-drive. Any outlines I had for this story have disappeared, after becoming a Mac about 2 years ago.

However, I'd consider starting this up again, as a project, an attempt to not let you guys down again, if anyone is still out there. I've become an English major, and I truly think my writing has improved massively. I don't really have any direction or know-how anymore, but I'm willing to try, if you're willing to be right there with me.

I've read the story over, cringing at over-used clichés and various grammar mistakes I've made, but I'm still, to this day, stunned at the overwhelmingly positive feedback I got on this story.

What do you say? You want to try again?

-M.


	9. Chapter 9

Hey guys. So, here it is. Here is my chance. One thing that SHOULD be noted... Now that I'm in college, I no longer share my over-idealized ideas about love, or guys. I've got a lot more guy friends than I did before. This is going to be reflected in both Duke's characterization and his language. I may drop an f-bomb here or there, or other swear words. Please don't flame me for it—I've really found that this is how guys think and talk.

That being said, I'm not entirely pleased with my characterization of Duke to this point. I'll probably go back and do some editing on earlier chapters, because really... I don't know, it just doesn't seem to fit. I'm trying to rectify it now.

* * *

I know I should be rejoicing right now. This was the first time in my entire dating history that I had _ever _been comfortable talking to a girl. Honestly, it felt just like talking to Sebastian in our room. Okay, granted, perhaps not _exactly _like talking to him. For one thing, I was trying really hard to _not _be attracted to her. My fingers kind of tingled, and my stomach was kind of in knots... except not. It's impossible to describe. I still felt _functional, _I guess, which has never happened when I talked to a girl before.

But if I'm being honest, instead of being fricken over the moon that I was able to actually talk to her, all I was feeling was more and more pissed off. I couldn't understand how she could sit here, being so sweet, playing so fucking _innocent. _Like she wasn't planning on going back to our dorm tonight, getting any information she possibly could about how nervous I was, how gorgeous I found her, whatever the hell she was getting off on by being here with me right now.

And I wasn't just pissed at her—I was pissed at myself for actually _responding _to it.

"So, Duke, are you looking at colleges or anything yet?" She smiled, and my stomach did this weird-ass flippy thing. I didn't like it at all. See, when _she_ talked, my body definitely reacted physically, but not in the 'Hi, I'm Duke and I'm a bumbling idiot' kind of way it did with Olivia. I could maintain some composure. I wasn't sure if it was a good or a bad thing.

College. This, at least, was safe-conversation territory. "Well," I began. "I'm mostly looking at schools that could potentially give me a scholarship. If I'm being honest, it would be kind of a dream to play at UNC, but who knows, right?"

Viola's face lit up at the mention of U of C, I noticed. "As in Carolina?" she asked brightly.

I nodded, "Yup, I always kinda wanted to be a Ram." I laughed, more so out of nervousness, considering nothing really humorous had been said.

"That's... me too," she admitted, her smile still wide. "But," her smile faded just as quickly as it had appeared, "our girl's team just got cut at Cornwall, so when school starts up again, I won't have a team. No way I'm gonna get a scholarship if I'm not playing, ya know?"

That was... unexpected. I looked at her across the table, and if I'm being honest, I wanted to hold her hand. Or something. She just looked... sad. Unsure, maybe. I wanted to ask what her plans were once (I guess, IF) Sebastian decided to resume his proper spot at Illyria.

I also briefly wondered if they were identical, and if my new roommate would look like the man-boy that Viola did when she was all dressed up.

And then, like an idiot, I realized I had been silent for a little bit longer than was acceptable after an admission like the one she'd just made. "Oh, wow, Viola, I'm sorry. You could always try-out as a walk-on, right?"

She frowned, her frustration evident. "You don't get a scholarship for being a walk-on. And let's face it, UNC is too expensive out-of-state without a scholarship. Anyway, it's not something I want to think about before school even starts—I shouldn't have mentioned it. Where is our waitress, anyway?"

I found myself being both annoyed and slightly endeared to her dismissal of the subject. On the one hand, she listens to me pour my heart out to her all the time—how is it even remotely fair that the second that she starts to, I get shut down? But on the other hand, her absolute failure at an attempt to change the subject smoothly was both comical and adorable.

Except not adorable. Because I don't think she's adorable. Because she's a liar. Right?

Then why do I still want to kiss her?

My head hurts.

I needed to get her to talk about Sebastian more. That was why we were here. My hormones needed to take a hike. Taking the obvious escape route from the conversation, I motioned to Petey that we were ready to order, so he could send the waitress our way.

To be honest, I was really appreciative that we actually got to the "ordering" step in the date—considering how last time went with Olivia and all. We got a pizza to split, though she insisted that half of it have avocado and sun dried tomato on it, which I found kind of gross to think about. So we had a pepperoni, avocado, and sun-dried tomato pizza on the way. I guess this girl could make just about every aspect of my life interesting.

After we ordered, we both were kind of quiet—apparently lost in our own thoughts. If I was being honest with myself, I was definitely attracted to her. It was odd—without the wig and the boyish clothes that covered her figure, she really was gorgeous. It was definitely refreshing to... ahem... see her in something a bit lower cut. But I was still torn, knowing that the entire premise of our friendship was so... false. I didn't know how to reconcile the Viola that was in front of me with the one I've known for weeks. I wanted to kiss her again. I wanted to tell her that I knew. I wanted—my stomach growled loudly—pizza. The noise obviously pulled her out of her own thoughts as well, as she giggled.

"Hungry?" she asked cheerily.

"Starved," I admitted. She laughed at that, and I decided I loved the sound. I liked that she didn't seem so reserved around me right now—like when she was "Sebastian" she had this wall up. I could still see her personality shine through her male persona, but it was obvious that she had to be more careful. Here, the only thing she seemed afraid of was letting on all that she knew. She seemed much more relaxed, and I definitely liked it.

Maybe... maybe this _could _work. I liked a girl, maybe, and she liked me, I'm pretty sure, and we were here, and we could have a nice time, mostly without even much effort.

"So, are you actually going to make me try that monstrosity of a pizza you ordered?" I teased.

Viola grinned widely. "Well, of course. How else am I going to get you to trust me? It's delicious."

And then the resolve I had just internally built up crumbled a bit at the "t" word. Trust. I can't trust her. Not now, not until she comes clean with me herself, if that ever even happens. I began questioning her motives again. Was this all some kind of joke to her, was she maybe just doing this to psyche me out so that I would play badly and she could have my spot on the team or something?

I didn't understand, and I didn't know what to feel. One second, I'm thinking about how gorgeous her eyes are, 'cause they have these little brown specs flaked in with the green and then the next—"Duke?" she asked, interrupting my thoughts. "You okay? You got really quiet for a second."

Hm. I found it interesting that we both knew the difference between a comfortable silence, like the one we'd experienced moments earlier, and the tense one that had settled after that sentence. "Yeah, I'm fine," I said, putting on a smile.

She only gave a half smile back, and said, "You really don't have to try the pizza—I was just joking. It's really up to you and it won't phase me either way."

I kind of laughed. She thought I was throwing a brat-attack over some pizza toppings? "No way," I laughed, resolving to shove these thoughts out of my head for a later time when she wasn't sitting here in front of me. "I can't knock it till I try it—but then you're gonna be in for it, once I tell you how nasty it is."

She grinned, and was only able to throw in a, "You're on," before our waitress returned with our pizza. As she set it down on the table, I eyed it suspiciously, while Viola laughed gleefully.

I decided I liked the sound of her laugh.

"So?" She asked, in a manner that was obviously offering a challenge. "What do you say Mr. Hot-Shot? You too scared to try the icky green stuff on the pizza?"

"Taunts don't faze me, sweetheart," I said with mock-arrogance.

I made a big show of taking the slice off of the platter, and was about to take the teeniest bite ever when she stopped me. "Ah, ah, ah, little bites don't count," she laughed. I felt the corner of my mouth turn up, and I decided I wanted to find more ways to evoke that sound. I continued to make a big showing of trying this pizza—playing it up like I was some fancy wine taster, or something. I swirled the pizza under my nose, inhaling the aroma like one would at some fancy alcohol party at Martha's Vineyard or something, and she laughed harder. I had to admit, it didn't smell to bad. Taking the sound of her laughter as encouragement, I took a cautious bite.

Chewing slowly, I suddenly felt nervous—more nervous than I had the whole lunch—as I noticed her staring at me intently. It kind of freaked me out, and I was hoping that I didn't have pizza on my face, and that my outfit wasn't clashing with the wallpaper (where the hell did THAT come from?), when I stopped chewing.

She looked uneasy, though in a joking manner. "Well?" she asked solemnly.

I chewed slowly and swallowed. "Well..." I said. "It was... interesting."

"You hated it?" She asked, sounding perhaps a little disappointed.

"Surprisingly... no," I admitted.

She grinned, and said, "Well, I hope you don't like it enough to steal too many pieces—stick to your pepperoni, Mr. Closed-Minded!" She laughed again, and at that moment I decided it may have been my favorite sound in the world. Olivia never laughed with me.

_Olivia never lied to you either, _my brain shot back. As if there were an angel and a devil on my shoulder, another part of my brain shot back, _You don't know that for sure._

Ugh. _Dear brain, I thought I'd resolved to shut you up for the remainder of this date, until I could think alone. Shut the fuck up. Thanks, Duke._

I smiled at her. "We'll see about that." As I continued eating this strange mix of the creamy avocado and the tangy sun-dried tomato, I watched as she took her first bite. She took a bite, closed her eyes, and let out a very quiet, "Mmmmmm."

I chuckled, and her eyes popped open. "Haha, whoops," she said, her cheeks flushing slightly.

"It was cute," I reassured her. She smiled, and I smiled back.

Conversation after the food came was sparse, though not in an uncomfortable way. We ate our pizza quietly, occasionally making small talk. When we got the check, I noticed she had begun to reach for her wallet, when I quickly snatched the check.

"Nope, I got it," I smiled. I considered it payback for stealing her tampons for my nose-blee—Oh my god. NO ONE ACTUALLY USED TAMPONS FOR THAT. Obviously she would need them for... she's a girl and all... oh god. Wow, I'm definitely an idiot. I shook it off, disgusted with myself, though still hell-bent on my resolve to not think about what purpose this served or how I felt about her until I was alone.

"Well, thank you," she smiled, and I noticed how white her teeth were. She was really subtly gorgeous, ya know?

God, shake it off bro. Tampons. And Liars. AND TAMPONS.

I paid, and then stood up, offering my hand to help her out of her chair. I could still be a gentleman, like my parents taught me, even if I had no idea what the heck was going on in my head.

She turned to me and said, "This was really fun. Hopefully we can do it again?"

Suddenly, normal Duke returned, and I felt my cheeks heat up, and I got a bit tongue-tied. Everything else went out the window momentarily because this beautiful, confusing girl wanted to see me again. As a girl. Go figure.

"Yeah, I'll call you," I said, when I finally found my voice.

She smiled, and we walked out into the parking lot. Turning towards me, she leaned in and kissed me on the fricken cheek. Pulling away, she turned quickly and walked to her car. "Uh, bye," I called out awkwardly.

She turned, flashing her brilliant smile, and waved.

My cheek burned where her lips had been. I was so screwed.

* * *

Okay, this is a longer chapter for me, and hopefully enough to tide you over. It's not quite a filler, because we're beginning to see Duke being torn over his feelings of confusion, anger, and attraction, and also I just needed to try something to get me pulled back in. Let me know what you think, since I am just starting back up. I'm almost like a new writer again! Do you like Duke's new characterization? He's not as sweet and naïve as he maybe was before.

How are you guys feeling about sticking with me? Are you still in, after this? If not, let me know, and I won't waste my timeee! Also, this was kinda unedited, cuz I just wanted to get it up. Sorry for mistakes!

-M.


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